Selecting and Changing Text in PowerPoint 2013

Learn how to select and change text within text placeholders, text boxes,
and shapes in PowerPoint 2013.

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Author:Geetesh Bajaj

Product/Version: Microsoft PowerPoint 2013OS: Windows 7 and 8

Date Created: April 1, 2015Last Updated: April 1, 2015

Although PowerPoint does include options to use pictures, SmartArt, charts, sounds, and even video
clips, we rarely see presentations that have no text at all. Nothing conveys a message better
than text, and even pictures do need captions in the form of text. In PowerPoint, several slide
objects can include text -- these include text placeholders, text boxes, shapes, tables, SmartArt,
charts, etc. In this tutorial though, we are only exploring selecting and editing text within text
placeholders, text boxes, and shapes.

Selecting the Text

PowerPoint provides plenty of ways in which you can edit text -- but selection is important since
you first need to select any text you want to edit. Note that selecting text is different from
selecting the containers that include text:

If you click the edge of the placeholder, text box, or shape -- you select the entire placeholder,
text box, or shape, as shown in Figure 1 -- not just the text it contains. Note that
the selected placeholder, text box, or shape is surrounded by a solid line with selection handles.
In many ways, this sort of selection is akin to
selecting a shape.

Figure 1: Entire Placeholder is selected

If you click within the placeholder, text box, or shape that contains text, and then select the
text as per the guidelines in the next paragraph, the text gets highlighted as shown in
Figure 2. This means you selected that text. Note that when you select only text, then the placeholder, text box, or
shape which contains selected text is surrounded by a line of small dashes with selection handles.

Have your ever used keyboard shortcuts and sequences in PowerPoint? Or are you a complete keyboard aficionado? Do you want to learn about some new shortcuts? Or do you want to know if your favorite keyboard shortcuts are documented?